Burling returns to guide Black Foils

After taking time to celebrate the miracle of life, Peter Burling returns to SailGP having seen his team perform from a new perspective.

As Burling and wife Lucinda Nelson welcomed their first child around the same time as the SailGP regatta in Sydney last month, Burling watched the racing from home as Nathan Outteridge stepped in as driver for the event.

The Kiwi team, who now go by the moniker of the Black Foils, sailed well to secure a third-placed finish, though a butchered start in the podium race was frustrating. Tom Slingsby led the Australians to their first win of the season, while Nicolai Sehested guided the Danes to second.

It wasn’t the first time this season Burling has watched from the sidelines, after the Kiwi team was forced to sit out the Italy event due to a damaged boat, but it was the first time since their debut season that Burling had to watch his team sail without him.

“It’s definitely a little weird following racing from afar. It was great to be able to keep a lot of dialogue with our coaching staff and keep quite connected to the team,” Burling said.

“It looked like they had it in the bag, then got a bit trigger-happy at the end. It would have been nice if Nicolai had stayed ahead of Tom, to be honest. We were quite happy with his team taking a long time to get a win on the board this season.”

Burling returns at the helm for the Kiwis in their home event on Lyttelton Harbour this weekend with a refreshed view, looking to go one better than their second in 2023.

“It’s been an absolutely awesome time,” Burling said of welcoming his first child. “Lucy and the little one have been going absolutely amazing. It’s a cool part of life but we’re down here in Lyttelton now and ready to race.”

With more than 22,000 fans expected at Naval Point across the weekend, the regatta is set to become the world’s largest ticketed sailing event. Other major regattas such as the America’s Cup and Ocean Race are unticketed.

Burling said it was an indication of New Zealand’s appetite for sailing and the Black Foils were looking forward to putting on a show for their fans.

“The amount of support we’ve been getting from home right from the beginning of the SailGP journey has been incredible.

“Kiwis really love getting along to sailing events, watching and supporting, and just having the fan base grow and grow as the events go on, it’s amazing to have so many passionate Kiwis down here.

“I’d be lying if I said everyone in our team wasn’t super excited about racing in front of so many people this weekend.”